Pool Cover-ups for My Kids

We’ve been going to the pool quite a bit this year.  My kids are finally water-savvy enough for me to take them both by myself.  The biggest challenge is what to do when it is time to come home:  take the time to change them into dry clothes or let them sit in their car seats in their wet suits?  I’ve tried the “burrito method” (wrapping them in a towel) but the littlest one is always tripping on the hem and it is impossible to buckle them into their car seats with the towels in place (I can hear other parents nodding their heads at this dilemma).  First I thought about buying some robes to wear home from the pool until I priced them.  Next, I searched for instructions for making my own and came across exactly what I was looking for on Sew, Mama, Sew.  These instructions use a towel for the fabric (I bought mine at Kohl’s on sale) and are very easy to follows.

I added appliqué sea friends (a whale and octopus) along with some button embellishment.  I started with a couple of clip art drawings for patterns and satin stitched the quilting cotton to the towels.  I decided to use wide quilt binding instead of narrower double-fold bias tape to finish the cut edges as I thought it would be easier to apply given the thickness of the towels.  While I like this at the center front, I don’t like it around the neckline very much.  In fact, the only thing I don’t like about these cover-ups is that the necklines are too wide and don’t sit nicely on my boys.

The day I completed the first of these garments I came across a new pattern by Dana over at Made for a beach robe also made from towels.  I think I may put this on my list to make next year – we’ll see how the current versions hold up to washing and wearing.

I’m still hoping to get some pictures of these robes on the actual subjects but so far I haven’t had any luck with that.  For now you’ll have to be satisfied with shots taken on hangers.  Hopefully I can update with some “action shots” soon.

Update on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 9:27PM by Julie Bowersett

Here are a few shots of my kids wearing their cover ups.  You can see how wide the necks are.  I've decided to make a center back pleat and take up some of the extra width with hopes these will fit a little better.  I don't know if the neckline stretched (I would advise stay-stitching it immediately after cutting) or if a smaller arc would be better.  The instructions call for a 9" wide opening.  Next time I would try something smaller.

Comments

[Lynn]

cute, cute cute. Can't wait to see the cute coverups "upstaged" by the boys... ; }

[linda]

Adorable!